I can't comment on dental health care because I've only ever used my private dentist and gotten some rebate from my health fund, but with regard to 4yr olds having their teeth pulled, this is insane! I don't think the reason is long waiting lists in the public system. 4 year olds should not have rotting teeth or gum problems. If their diets are low in sugar and they brush their teeth twice a day and floss, they should have healthy teeth.

unless theyve gotten unlucky
5 of my nieces and nephews have had teeth pulled UNDER four, a couple were under 2.
all of us eat similar diets, brush teeth twice a day etc etc

My son ended up with 3 (very expensive ) silver crowns by the time he was 3...great diet and dental hygiene - but poor enamel due to failure to thrive as a bub..If he hadn't had the work done early through a private dentist I'm sure there would have been massive issues down the track. Paediatric dentists are exorbitant....

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It looks like Smart cities are going to be a big feature of the election campaign. It's kind of exciting! I'm curious how the budget will be affected here. I guess they expect to generate a lot of revenue from new job creations, capital gains on sale of assets once completed, and stamp duty for state governments when people start building/buying/selling houses in these smart cities..

"The pledge partially reverses the 10-year, $30-billion cut to education funding contained in the Abbott government's 2014 budget but falls short of Labor's commitment to fully fund the Gonski plan."

"But the minister said the funding would be tied to a series of changes aimed at lifting students' performance and results, including assessing all Year 1 students' reading, numeracy and phonics skills and providing parents with annual progress reports."

I wonder if this means that schools will be given more as a reward for high performance or given more as a boost when they have poor performance levels.

I really hope it's the latter.. If low SES schools are doing poorly in naplan and other areas then they would be getting more of the funding, I assume, which would be in line with gonski principles.. (??). It's all a bit vague at the moment.

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The Today show just posted this on their fb page, with a video attached that made it sound like the funding is reward based, instead of being directed at those that need it most... talk about widening the gap 😡

The Federal Government is set to invest an extra $1.2 billion into the nation's schools between 2018 and 2020, but there's a catch. In order to qualify for the cash, children as young as five will be skills tested on entry to school, and Year 12 students forced to study either maths or science. Fair enough? #9Today

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